Abi Jones, of HeatEatReview.com, pulls out a frozen food item for dinner and review from her freezer in Palo Alto, Calif., Wednesday, March 5, 2008. Obsessive Web sites evaluating the newest eats have become must-reads for lovers of every type of food including frozen dinners, potato chips, candy bars and even energy drinks. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Obsessive Web sites evaluating the newest offerings have become must-reads for lovers of every type of food including frozen dinners, potato chips, candy bars and even energy drinks.

While the readerships for sites like IAteAPie and Candy Blog are only a few thousand daily, food companies court them as a way to reach an interested audience for the price of shipping a box.

One blog with a couple of thousand daily readers may not have a huge impact, but marketers can easily reach several such blogs with little effort, said Debbie Weil, a corporate blogging consultant based in Washington.

The single-minded focus of blogs may be in some ways more valuable than traditional marketing since it's easier to target an audience, said Daniel Taylor, a senior analyst of digital advertising and marketing for the Yankee Group.

These blogs usually spring from personal obsessions. Abi Jones, for example, started Heat-EatReview.com after nuking countless frozen meals for lunch at the office. Comparing notes with co-workers, she realized there were no resources for people interested in learning about the newest products in the freezer aisle.

Food blogs "may not have the mass reach, but it's a more engaged, specific audience," said Greg Zimprich, a spokesman for General Mills Inc. "Their readers are going to care a lot more about a product of ours."

The Minneapolis food giant tracks dozens of small blogs devoted to rating foods. Most don't get more than a couple of thousand daily visits, but General Mills nevertheless sends off its cereal bars, soups and other packaged foods in hopes of a mention.

Keeping track of popular blogs is part of the job for nearly all the company's public relations officers, who use online services like Google alerts, BlogPulse and Technorati to track brand mentions. The blogs are often among the top links returned in online searches for certain brands or categories.

The way any given company reaches out to food blogs varies widely, of course.

The Hershey Co. invites bloggers to product launches along with the mainstream media. Kraft Foods Inc., which owns Post, makes it a point to keep blogs aware of all its newest products and even advertises on the more popular sites like HungryGirl and Best of the Bite, said Sydney Lindner, a company spokeswoman.

Smaller companies, meanwhile, are more likely to reach out personally to bloggers and answer inquiries about ingredients or production. In return, being reviewed could make a bigger difference for new companies seeking to gain exposure.

Bonbonbar, a Los Angeles-based maker of handmade chocolate bars and marshmallows, saw an immediate jump in sales after its chocolate bars were reviewed on Candy Blog.

"A lot of people were buying as a direct result of (blogger Cybele May's) review," said Nina Wanat, the company's founder.

Wanat, a food blogger herself, said even a not-so-favorable review can help business. The important thing is making people aware that the product is available, she said.

Taylor of IAteAPie agrees.

"The only thing that's worse than a bad review is no review," she said.